Ukraine Changes War Plans as Military Runs Low on Ammo

The Ukrainian military is reportedly being forced to scale back or change some of its war plans due to a shortfall of ammunition on the battlefield.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said in an interview published by Reuters on Monday that the military was "replanning" its efforts due to shell shortages seen "across the entire front line."

Tarnavskyi called the situation a "very big problem" that had been exacerbated by the Ukrainian military receiving less foreign aid as Kyiv's war against invading Russian forces nears the 22-month mark.

"There's a problem with ammunition, especially post-Soviet (shells)—that's 122mm, 152mm. And today these problems exist across the entire front line," Tarnavskyi said. "The volumes that we have today are not sufficient for us today, given our needs."

"So, we're redistributing it," he added. "We're replanning tasks that we had set for ourselves and making them smaller, because we need to provide for them."

Tarnavskyi went on to say that offensive operations had turned to defense "in some areas," while reserve forces were being prepared for "further large-scale actions" in the future.

The brigadier general also claimed that Russia was experiencing its own ammunition supply problems, although no additional details about these alleged shortages were offered.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Russian and Ukrainian Ministries of Defense via email on Monday.

Tarnavskyi's remarks come as a massive $60-billion U.S. military aid package to Ukraine remains held up in Congress over Republican demands concerning unrelated U.S.-Mexico border security measures.

Ukraine was also dealt a major blow last week after a European Union (EU) plan to send aid in the amount of 50 billion Euros, or about $54.6 billion, was vetoed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who some have called an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, the EU is reportedly weighing a plan to push the aid through regardless of Orbán's objections by establishing a fund that is independent of the union's budget and would therefore not require Hungary's approval.

Kyiv did receive some positive news last week, as EU leaders voted in favor of opening accession talks with Ukraine and neighbor Moldova, despite warnings from Russia. In a surprise move, Orbán refrained from exercising veto power by abstaining from voting on accession.

During a summit between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Nordic leaders last week, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pledged a lifeline of 7.5 billion Danish kroner in aid, equivalent to around $1.1 billion. It will include ammunition, tanks, drones and other supplies.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also announced during the summit that his country would be helping Kyiv by "increasing our financial and humanitarian support by about $800 million for this year."

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.